Chapter 26
Was it the thought of being caught in a trap that made her dream this?
Yulia found herself running through a dark forest under the night sky, not knowing where she was going, trying to escape from the darkness that pursued her.
“Father!”
No matter how much she ran, the darkness never gave up, relentlessly chasing her. Yulia was on the brink of exhaustion.
The sensation of the thin nightgown fluttering in the wind and the feel of the earth beneath her feet were so vivid that Yulia could no longer tell if this was a dream or reality.
Then, she saw the figure of her father in the distance, and the sight of him filled her with an overwhelming sense of relief.
“Yuri, my dear. I’m sorry.”
The moment Yulia grabbed his shoulder, he vanished, rustling like fallen leaves in the wind.
From then on, neither the Countess nor Ian heard Yulia’s voice.
As Yulia collapsed, unable to keep her balance, she felt the darkness closing in.
“Yuri! Are you alright?”
Standing before her was Cayente, his smile as radiant as ever, extending his hand to Yulia.
“Cai?”
“Are you hurt anywhere? Get up, Yuri.”
Despite his smile, his eyes were full of concern. Yulia could see the tiny sense of guilt in his eyes, as if he always felt responsible whenever Yulia got hurt or fell.
In that moment, Yulia realized she wasn’t running away from something; she was looking for Cayente.
“Cai! Where have you been? I’ve been searching for you, scared out of my mind!”
When she yelled, Cayente simply smiled and apologized.
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re too much!”
“I’m sorry, Yuri.”
“You’ve gone too far!”
“I’m sorry, all of it is my fault.”
Yulia took his hand, stood up, and collapsed into his arms, sobbing for what felt like an eternity.
But when she finally opened her eyes, she found herself crying for an entirely different reason.
That Cayente—the one in her memories—had become an unreachable figure. A bitter realization filled her heart.
Yulia, consumed by thoughts of how to cancel the wedding and whether she could slowly repay the money she had already received, found herself oversleeping for the first time in her life.
“Miss, are you awake? Did you sleep well?”
Still dazed, Yulia made her way down the stairs to find Lucy waiting for her.
There seemed to be no particular work for her to do today, and given how exhausted Yulia must have been from yesterday, Lucy had decided to let her rest.
“It’s already past lunchtime. You must be hungry. Should I prepare a simple sandwich?”
“I’m fine, Lucy. I’ll wait and eat dinner later.”
“But dinner isn’t for a while yet.”
“I’m fine.”
“Yulia! What are you doing still lying down? I’ve been waiting forever! Come here right now!”
Lucy, ever attentive to Yulia’s needs, had prepared a meal for her, but Yulia’s stepmother, distracted as always, grabbed Yulia’s hand and led her toward the sitting room.
As they entered, Yulia was shocked to see that the room was filled with boxes, covering not only the table but the entire floor.
“What is all this?”
“What do you mean, what is it? It’s all the items that were delivered today. Since they’re for you, we decided to wait and open them together. Go ahead, open them.”
“Big sis, hurry up and open it. I’ve been waiting to see what’s inside.”
The dresses, shoes, hats, gloves—everything Yulia had ordered for the royal party, along with other items, had finally arrived. Unable to resist her stepmother’s and Ian’s insistence, Yulia opened the box at the top of the stack.
“I… I didn’t order this…”
“Huh? Is this mine?”
When Yulia found a man’s jacket instead of a dress, Ian quickly grabbed the box.
“This is mine?”
Yulia asked.
“Why is Ian’s stuff in there?”
“Oh, this? Cayente said it was fine.”
“What…?”
“You kept telling me not to write checks, so I sent a letter asking if it was okay to buy a few extra things for myself while buying for you. They said it was fine.”
“Wait, what?”
The weight of all these items, the growing debt, crashed down on Yulia, but her stepmother and Ian were completely nonchalant.
“Mother, I think this is for you.”
“Really? It does seem like something for someone of my stature, not for a young girl like Yulia.”
Her stepmother casually mentioned adding a few things to Yulia’s order, but Yulia soon discovered that a third of the items delivered were her stepmother’s.
“Oh, look, these are mine too! Ian, look at these shoes, aren’t they beautiful?”
“Mother!”
“Goodness! Why are you shouting? You scared me!”
“When did you order all of this? How did you do this without telling me?”
“Do I need your permission? Cayente told me to do it.”
“Do you have any idea how much all of this costs? How are we going to pay for it?”
“Pay for it? It’s a gift from the family.”
Yulia couldn’t believe what was happening.
She should have put a stop to her stepmother’s behavior when she first mentioned ordering shoes, but now it was too late.
Yulia had no strength left to even check what else had come, and she collapsed into a nearby chair.
“Miss! Are you alright? I was going to bring you a sandwich…”
Was it just coincidence that all of these items arrived on the same day Yulia decided to cancel the wedding?
She couldn’t help but wonder if it was a deliberate attempt to burden her with even more debt.
Even if Yulia had the desire to back out, could she truly escape now?
The spring days continued, unseasonably hot.
Originally, Yulia had planned to start a business around cotton harvest time, but with the wedding plans interfering, things had been delayed.
Nevertheless, Cayente didn’t leave the factory idle.
He had started importing cotton from the Seed continent and was preparing to produce cheap cotton fabric for immediate sale.
Improving the quality would come later, after they harvested the good cotton from their newly acquired farms.
The pile of threads grew, and those threads turned into fabric.
Despite the intention to sell cheaply, the fabric was of better quality than expected.
While Yulia’s mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the wedding, she didn’t notice that news of her visit to her stepmother’s house had reached Cayente.
“I heard that you visited without notice. Has the world changed that much in the eight years I’ve been gone?”
Cayente returned home to find his stepmother seated in his house as if it were her own.
“You really sent an invitation and then neglected the wedding preparations?” he asked, but his stepmother paid him no mind, continuing to speak as if nothing were wrong.
“The wedding will be held in the garden, and the reception in the hall. We have a lot to prepare.”
“That’s easy enough. I’ll get people to do it.”
“No, no. It’s my job to do it. I’ve got an eye for these things.”
Yulia, frustrated, didn’t know what to say anymore.
If she had known it would be like this, maybe it would have been better to leave with Cayente on the day their wedding was decided.
She could have avoided all the weight of her family’s expectations. But now, she was trapped.
Yulia felt a deep sadness as her golden eyes, once full of light, seemed dulled.
Her stepmother’s constant meddling, her intrusive behavior—it all felt suffocating.
“Yulia, are you unwell?”
Yulia’s stepmother noticed her pale face but dismissed it, thinking she was just tired.
Yulia’s appearance, slumped in the chair, was lifeless, almost like a doll without a soul.
“Yulia!” Cayente shouted, but she didn’t respond. Tears began to fall from her eyes.
Yulia, for the first time, allowed herself to feel the weight of it all.
The situation was unbearable.
